Coffee
by BlessYourSoul
Summary: AU Quinntana. A lot can happen when you spill your coffee.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Coffee Shop

"_**I never knew just what it was**__**  
**__**About this old coffee shop I love so much**__**  
**__**All of the while I never knew."**_

"Here's your coffee, can I get you anything else?"

"No thank you." Santana tried to say as kindly as possible. Her day had been hell. She'd had to attend a meeting with the Dean of the Literature department at NYU about her classes and how she'd "Fit right in here at NYU". She'd never felt so patronized in her life, it's not like she'd never taught before. She's 29 for Christ's sake! She mentally scoffed and rolled her eyes as she went to sit down. The Dean was an ass and so full of himself. _Fucking Will Schuester,_ she thought.

She was so caught up in her rant that she crashed in to someone.

"Oh Shit! I'm so sorry!" Santana looked and saw that both their coffees had ended up on the other person's shirt. "God I hope you're not burned." She said as she noticed the red blemishes on the other person's arms where the coffee had spilled. "Here let me get you some napkins." Santana uttered as she rushed to grab some napkins. She returned within seconds and handed the napkins to the other person. She kept her eyes downcast, feeling slightly ashamed about what had happened.

"Thanks." She heard whispered to her by a sweet voice. Her head shot up and her eyes locked onto piercing hazel. A soft smile was playing on the other girl's lips as Santana stood still, afraid to move and make more of a fool out of herself. Santana cleared her throat before she spoke.

"I'm really sorry about your coffee, and your shirt." Santana said as a blush crept upon her cheeks noticing the girl's shirt was essentially ruined. The girl just giggled shyly.

"Don't worry about it; I never really liked this shirt anyway." The girl said jokingly easing the tension. Santana laughed, feeling relieved that the girl wasn't ripping her head off. The girl continued to dry the coffee off of herself as Santana just stood there awkwardly watching the girl's actions closely. The girls was roughly the same height as her, it was hard to tell. And judging by the way the coffee had made her clothes clingy, it was obvious the girl was in shape. She had honey blonde hair that cascaded around her face that stopped around her shoulders. Her skin was fair, a stark contrast to Santana's tanned form.

She was brought out of her reverie by the sound of someone clearing their throat. Santana looked up and realized that she'd been caught blatantly ogling the girl before her.

"U-Umm-U..." Santana mentally scolded herself for stuttering. She shook her head before meeting the blonde's eyes again. _God they're beautiful._ She cleared her throat before asking "Let me buy you another drink." The blonde looked ready to protest but Santana cut her off, "It's the least I could do after spilling your coffee and ruining your shirt. Please?" The girl just stared intently at Santana before laughing slightly and replying.

"Sure, umm, I'll have a latte." She said with a light smile. Santana smiled back.

"Why don't you grab a table and I'll bring them over?" The girl looked skeptical before nodding and heading off to look for a table. "I'm Santana by the way." She blurted out and mentally face palmed. The girl just turned and smiled.

"Quinn." She replied and continued walking. _Quinn_ - Santana thought – _A pretty name to match a pretty face. Scratch that. She's fucking breathtaking._

Santana headed back to the register and ordered the coffees. The cashier looked at her strangely. She scoffed and said "Yes you just served me, and if I were you I'd grab a mop before someone slips on that puddle over there. Wouldn't want to have someone fall and sue now would we?" Her tone was sharp and the cashier looked sheepish as he handed Santana the coffees and rushed to clean up the mess she'd made. She shook her head before turning around and scanning the shop for Quinn. She spotted her in the far corner near a window and realized that it was empty except for them two.

Santana walked over and realized that Quinn was playing with the hem of her shirt, examining the coffee stains that plagued it. She jumped when Santana placed her latte on the table.

"Thanks." She said with a gentle smile. "You really didn't have to."

"It's not a problem, honestly." Santana replied taking a sip of her own coffee. She placed the mug on the table. "So Quinn, what's brought you to the quietest coffee shop in New York?" Santana asked trying to break the silence.

"I'm not sure, there's a book store nearby that I frequent and I realized that I walk past here every time I go yet I've never actually been inside. So today I thought I would." Quinn replied.

"And look where that got you." Santana joked. Quinn laughed.

"Yeah, in future I guess I should just stick to my usual route." Quinn joked as well. Santana laughed, and they fell in to an easy conversation.

* * *

The two had been talking and getting to know each other when Santana looked at her watch and realized they'd been talking for nearly 2 hours. She sat up abruptly.

"Shit I didn't realize we'd been talking for so long. I have to go. I was meant to meet my friends like a half hour ago." She said in a rush. She noticed Quinn reach in her bag for something.

"It's ok. Here." She said, handing it Santana. "You should call me sometime." She said with a wink before saying goodbye and leaving the shop and a stunned Santana in her wake. Santana stared at the paper with Quinn's number on it and a smile plastered her face at the prospect of a date with this wonderful girl she just met. At a fucking coffee shop of all places.

**Song used at beginning of chapter: 'Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop' by Landon Pigg.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Secrets and Decisions

"_**I hate to think about us not together,  
As soon as I look at you it will show on my face,  
Then they'll know that we've been loving each other,  
We can't let'em know, girl, no, no,  
We can't leave a trace."**_

***BEEP**BEEP***

_What the fuck? _Santana blindly reached for her phone on the bedside table to shut off her alarm and check the time.

**5:45am, September 3****rd****.**

_Christ _she thought as she pulled herself out of bed. Later today she would be starting her first day teaching at NYU. She wasn't sure what it was going to be like. Her previous teaching job at Yale had been full of classes that were home to snobby rich kids, brainiacs that thought they knew everything, and damn hipsters and their 'God that's so mainstream' attitudes.

She turned the shower on and stripped of her pyjamas. A chill ran through her sleep warm body before she stepped into the stream of water. She sighed in relief as the shower warmed her skin. Her thoughts wandered to the past few weeks, and her past few dates with Quinn. A smile crept on her face at the thought of the blonde. They'd gotten on like a house on fire, nothing was awkward, and despite the age gap between them, Quinn could keep up with her intellectually as well as emotionally and Santana found that quite refreshing compared to her other relationships.

They'd been on six dates to be exact in the past two weeks, and they were yet to schedule another. They hadn't made anything _official_ yet, but Santana was planning to ask on their next date. But, it would maybe be a while for that date to come around as both of them had school. Santana knew Quinn was a student, but she wouldn't be in one of her classes right?

* * *

The drive to the university was slow for Santana, _damn traffic._ She'd had to bypass her morning coffee because she'd been too busy daydreaming about Quinn in the shower and left herself only forty five minutes to get ready. To say she was in a bad mood was an understatement.

She parked her car in her space. Yup, she has her own space. Perks of being a professor. She walked in to the building and headed straight for the Dean, Mr Shuester's office to get her lesson details and the roster. She knocked on the door and entered when she heard a muffled 'Come in'.

"Hello, Mr Shuester." Santana said meekly.

"Please, call me Will. Come, sit." He said gesturing to the seat in front of his desk. "So, here I have your lesson details/schedule and here's the class roster for each one." He handed her a small pack of papers. "If you have any troubles with any of the students don't be afraid to come to me and we'll sort everything out. The students tend to…. Well, test the new teacher, but, I'm sure you'll be fine."

"Thanks.. Will. I'm sure there'll be no problems. I'm no pushover." She said sternly. "Could you show me to my classroom?"

"Yeah sure." He quickly raised from his seat. "Follow me."

They left the room and the corridors had begun to fill with students. Some stared at her, and some stared at her ass. She smirked slightly. _This'll be fun._

It was a few minutes before her last class of the day. The day had gone well in her opinion; a few students have already had a taste of _The Lopez Fury, _as she liked to call it. She wouldn't be pushed around, and she'd make that clear from the start. She was a teacher to be feared, but respected.

She was brought out of her musings by the sound of laughter in the doorway. She looked up and her stomach dropped. Across the room Quinn stopped dead in her tracks, staring wide eyed at Santana. Her friend, a tall blonde boy, bumped in to her as she stopped. 'Are you ok?' Santana heard him ask. Quinn turned to look at him, 'Yeah I'm fine.' She replied, Santana noticed the shake in her voice. She watched the blonde rush to a seat at the back of the class, her friend following close behind, a confused look on his face. When the rest of the class had arrived, Santana stood and walked to stand directly in front of the students.

"Hello class, I'm Miss. Lopez….."

* * *

As the bell signalling the end of the day rang, most of the students packed their things and left as soon as they could. She noticed Quinn and her friend lingering at the back of the class. When they were the last ones there they began to leave when Quinn stopped.

"You go ahead Sam; I just need to speak to Miss. Lopez about future assignments."

"You're such a nerd Quinn. I'll catch ya later." He said, hugging her then jogging out of the class. Quinn stepped closer to Santana's desk before clearing her thoat.

"So…"

"So… what, Quinn? I thought you said you majored in Psychology? Do you realise how bad this is?" Santana all but yelled. Quinn flinched at her tone. Santana took a deep breath, attempting to control her emotions. "I'm sorry, I just…."

"It's ok. And I'm double majoring in English Literature and Psychology. I didn't think you'd be my teacher." Quinn said, not meeting Santana's eyes.

"This is really bad Quinn." Santana said sadly.

"I know." Quinn said in nearly a whisper. "Do-Do you want to stop seeing each other?" She asked, finally meeting Santana's stare. Santana noticed the vulnerability in the blonde's eyes and stepped closer, taking her hand and interlacing their fingers.

"That would be the wise thing to do." Quinn dropped her head, looking at their hands. "But…." Santana said tipping Quinn's head up with her free hand. "I really like seeing you." She cupped the blonde's check and leaned in to kiss her gently. Quinn smiled into the kiss, resting her arms on Santana's shoulders as the brunette placed her hands on Quinn's hips. The kiss ended naturally and Quinn rested her forehead on Santana's shoulder.

"So, we keep this a secret?" She asked, biting her lip.

"A secret." Santana replied.

* * *

"Hey Rach! You home?" Santana yelled as she walked through the door of her shared apartment.

"In the kitchen!" was the loud reply off of one Rachel Berry, Broadway diva. She walked in to the kitchen, placing her bag on the counter and plonking down on to one of the stalls. "How was your first day?" Rachel asked, taking whatever she was cooking off of the stove.

"Oh well, you know, made some kids scared of me, others seemed determined to get the better of me. Hah, they haven't seen anything yet." Santana said with a grin.

"So I'm taking it went very well then?"

"Well, that depends on what you think things 'going very well' mean." She said with a frown.

"Did something bad happen?" Rachel asked a worried frown on her face.

"Well, you know Quinn?" Rachel nodded in response. "Yeah, she's one of my students." Rachel just gaped at her. Santana rested her head on the counter. The shorter brunette walked towards where Santana was sitting and hugged her from behind. "What do I do Rach? I told her we could keep dating in secret but I don't know if I can do that." The Latina asked obvious frustration in her voice.

"Just do what feels right."

The next day, after her class with Quinn, she asked the blonde on a date and made things official.

**Song used at beginning of chapter: 'Secret Lovers' by Atlantic Starr.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Beautiful

"_**You're so mean,**__**  
**__**When you talk, About yourself, You are wrong.**__**  
**__**Change the voices, In your head**__**  
**__**Make them like you Instead."**_

Things had been going well for Santana and Quinn. It had been a month since the beginning of the semester, and they'd managed to keep their relationship under wraps. The only people to know were Quinn's best friends Sam and Mercedes, and Santana's roommates/best friends, Rachel and Kurt.

They were currently sitting on the sofa in Santana's apartment watching an old film. Quinn was nestled into Santana's side, with the Latina's arm lying on her shoulders. They'd found themselves doing this often at their apartments after they found out they both had an affinity for vintage films.

It was a Saturday afternoon and they'd already been on a lunch date before they got back to the apartment. They'd spent their time half watching the film and half talking about their week and other trivial things.

"Wait, what did Sam say?"

"He said that we were some weird porn fetish or something. You know the student/teacher thing." Quinn replied, a disgusted look on her face. "Sometimes I regret renting an apartment with him, I can't escape his ridicule. Some gay best friend he is." Quinn said pouting. Santana smiled and kissed Quinn's cheek, wiping the pout away, as adorable as the blonde's pout was, she found that her smile was something beautiful in itself. Santana stared in to the hazel pools in front of her.

"You're beautiful." She said with so much sincerity in her voice that it made Quinn blush and look away.

"No I'm not." She said. Santana frowned, _how does she not see what I see?_

"I'd start singing Bruno Mars to try and convince you, but even I have to admit that it's just too cheesy." Santana chuckled and Quinn giggled. The Latina began to leave feather light kisses along the blonde's jaw and check before landing on her lips. The kiss was innocent enough before Santana traced Quinn's bottom lip with her tongue, deepening the kiss. Santana placed her hands on Quinn's hips, leaning forward until the blonde was lying down with Santana on top of her.

They continued to kiss as Quinn's hands found purchase just above Santana's ass, and the Latina's hands began to wander the blonde's lithe form. Santana's touch was light, sending chills throughout Quinn's body. Her hands wandered beneath the blonde's shirt, ghosting over her toned stomach and around to Quinn's back, where she was met with rougher skin compared to the softness she felt on her stomach. She felt Quinn freeze beneath her, inhaling sharply, before removing herself from their position. The blonde stood and walked to the love seat, which was near the sofa, and brought her knees up in to her chest and curled I to herself, like a ball. Santana stared dumbfounded as she watched the blonde fidget with the hem of her shirt. Her expression turned to worried when she noticed the tear run down the blonde's cheek.

"Quinn?" No response. She stood up from the sofa and went to kneel in front of the blonde. "What's wrong?" She asked, taking hold of her hands. Quinn just looked away, tears still slowly running down her cheeks. "Did we go too fast? I'm sorry if I pushed you, I did-"

"You didn't push me." Quinn cut in, her voice small, cracking slightly.

"Then what's wrong?" The Latina asked, confused, before suddenly remembering the roughness of the skin on Quinn's back. "Has it got something to do with your back?" Quinn looked at the hands in her lap, nodding slowly. "Can I see?" The blonde's eyes shot up to meet Santana's, panic and pain showing in her irises.

"I've never shown anyone before." She said quietly. Santana nodded in understanding before saying,

"You don't have to." Quinn just shook her head before reaching for the bottom of her shirt and pulling upward. Santana was first met with the sight of the blonde's toned and tight stomach, but her lips turned downward when she noticed a long scar running horizontally across Quinn's left rib cage, and another, running vertically up the blonde's sternum. Santana traced the scars lightly, making Quinn jerk away from the touch. "Sorry." Santana said, a lump rising in her throat when Quinn stood to turn around.

Santana gasped when she saw Quinn's back, littered with scars. She noticed one, large and long scar running up the length of her spinal cord, contrasting to the pale skin that surrounded it. Santana also noticed other scars on the blonde's back, large welts. Bile rose in Santana's throat when she recognized the scar shapings. A belt. When she was younger she babysat a young boy who had similar marking on his back. A few years later the boy's mother was arrested for child abuse. She touched the puckered skin lightly, she wouldn't ask, maybe she's wrong. Quinn would tell her in her own time.

"I was in a car accident when I was 17." Quinn's voice, hoarse from crying, broke Santana from her thoughts. "I was on my way to my sister, Lexie's wedding. I was running late because I'd forgotten my dress at home and I was getting texts off of my mom and Lexie, asking where I was." Santana noticed the quiver in Quinn's voice; she sat down on the love seat and pulled Quinn on to her lap, wrapping her arms around Quinn's torso, tucking the blonde's head under her chin. "I can remember texting her that I was on my way and then the next thing I knew I was in a hospital bed, five days after the wedding." Santana didn't say anything, just held Quinn tighter. Quinn took a steadying breath before continuing. "I remember how my sister broke down trying to explain to me what had happened. I was T-Boned by a truck that had run a stop sign. I had three broken ribs on my left side and one of them had punctured my left lung. I had internal bleeding, whiplash and severe concussion. I have a scar behind my left ear, where a shard of glass had lodged itself in to my skull." Quinn began to shake as she tried to control her sobs.

Santana had tears running down her face too as she listened to Quinn recite what had happened. Quinn went on. "I remember talking to the doctor, my mom and sister were in the room, and I asked him why I couldn't feel my legs. Lexie left the room in tears and my mom just held my hand tighter. He told me I was paralyzed because I had a spinal compression caused by the force of the impact. I had to be operated on; it made me feel like one of those frogs you dissect in biology class. I went through months of physio therapy and different operations and god knows how many therapy sessions I was forced to go to, before I was on my feet and walking again. No one would know that I was temporarily paralyzed if it wasn't for all the ugly scars." That's when Quinn lost it with the tears. Sobs wracked violently through her body as Santana continued to hold her, whispering words of comfort in her ear.

"You are beautiful." Santana said earnestly. "Do you hear me? You are so beautiful Quinn. Your scars aren't ugly, they're beautiful. Do you know why?"

"No." Quinn hiccupped.

"Because they show what you've been through, how strong and determined you are. I don't want to hear you say they're ugly again. They're so beautiful, like you." Santana said her voice quivering as she held a fragile Quinn in her arms. _Who knew?_ She thought as she rocked the blonde back and forth.

The two stayed in that position, cuddled together and soon they fell asleep. They didn't stir at all when Rachel came in to the apartment. She smiled softly and placed a blanket over the couple before heading off to bed.

**Song used at beginning of chapter: 'Perfect' by P!nk.**


End file.
